On Sunday, May 13, 2001, the La Grange Police Department was contacted by Cosandra Best concerning her missing 16-year-old daughter, Timeka Pridgen. Pridgen was last seen at her home — 201 South Street in La Grange — on Saturday, May 12, 2001 at around 10:40 p.m.

When her mother Cosandra found her missing from within the home, she noticed that Timeka had not put on her shoes or taken her pocketbook. A search was conducted for Timeka but she could not be located and her friends had no knowledge of her whereabouts. The La Grange Police Department enlisted the assistance of the State Bureau of Investigation and the investigation continued.

At the time, a suspect was developed in the case, identified as Cosandra’s boyfriend.  The suspect, Eric Earl Mercer Moore, a resident of Goldsboro at the time, was questioned but he denied any involvement in Timeka’s disappearance. Moore was a convicted felon who had been previously charged with and convicted of multiple crimes dating back to 1988.

From 1988 until 2005, Moore was charged with and or convicted of rape, assault on a female (twice), assault inflicting a serious injury, second degree sex offense, second degree kidnapping, felony larceny (twice), felony possession of stolen goods, felony breaking and entering, felony possession of stolen goods, domestic criminal trespass, first degree sex offense of a child, second degree attempted sex offense and five counts of employment security violations. He served more than 20 years in prison for these offenses.

Investigators were focused on Moore for the following reasons:

·      Cosandra stated she was called by Moore on the evening of May 12, 2001; he stated he would be arriving at her home within 5 minutes. This would have been just before 10:30 p.m., when Timeka went missing

·      Cosandra — who was dozing off and on in her bedroom, but expecting Moore to arrive —thought she heard Moore’s car speed away from her home after hearing her house’s front door slam. Cosandra did not get up immediately and thought Moore had come up to the house but then left because he was likely upset that she was not ready to leave (the couple had made plans earlier in the day to go out)

·      Eva Best, the mother of Cosandra, also lived in the home; she stated she was in bed in her bedroom and thought she heard Moore’s car, which she had heard many times prior, arrive at the home. She reported that 30 minutes later she heard someone brushing up against the front door as though they were carrying something out of the door. She reported she heard the wood door slam and someone go to their car and leave the driveway. Eva indicated she never got up to investigate the noise

·      Cosandra stated she called Moore after 10:30 p.m. to apologize for not getting up when he came to the home. Moore denied ever coming to her home. Concerned, Cosandra went to see where Timeka was in the home. Cosandra could not find her daughter and noticed that Timeka had left her shoes and personal items in the home. Best stated she never disclosed to Moore during that evening that Timeka was missing

·      Moore was interviewed sometime after Timeka went missing and denied ever going to La Grange the night of May 12 and stated he was in Goldsboro the entire night. This statement conflicts with the report by Cosandra that Moore would be arriving in 5 minutes. In a later interview, Moore stated he did not come to La Grange because he got held up after running across an acquaintance in Goldsboro. He indicated he called Cosandra afterwards, but that no one answered the phone, so he decided not to come to La Grange

·      Investigators retrieved Moore’s cell phone and cell tower records which showed Moore’s phone communicating with cell towers along U.S. 70 from Goldsboro to La Grange just before 10:30 p.m. and then communicating with the same towers from La Grange back to Goldsboro along U.S. 70. At the time this incident occurred, the communications range for cell towers was only 2 to 3 miles

·      Investigators interviewed two females from Charlotte, who met Moore at the Holiday Inn in Goldsboro, during the early morning hours of May 13, just after Timeka’s disappearance. The females stated that when Moore arrived at their room, he was highly agitated, sweating and constantly looking out the window. One of the females stated that Moore’s appearance was unusual and his knees were dirty or very ashy in appearance. They remarked Moore left the hotel room to move his car from a space close to the hotel to one that was in the back of the hotel parking lot

·      During this same interview, the females stated that Moore was asked, “What is wrong?” Moore reportedly replied his daughter was missing. Moore often referred to Timeka as his daughter although there was no biological relationship between the two. One of the females stated that she asked Moore why his car had been moved to the back of the parking lot, and Moore’s response was, “If my daughter walks by there, she could wait by the car or come in”

·      This was critical information because Cosandra had not disclosed to Moore that Timeka was missing until the next morning. When Moore was interviewed, he admitted he did not learn of Timeka’s disappearance until the next morning. How could Moore know Timeka was missing when he had not been informed of her disappearance until the next morning?

·      On May 13, the day after Timeka went missing, Cosandra stated that Moore said he was going to his mother’s home in Greenville to celebrate Mother’s Day. Cosandra stated she then informed Moore of Timeka’s disappearance. She stated that Moore said he would return to her home in La Grange after visiting his mother. Cosandra stated that when Moore arrived at her home that afternoon, his car had been thoroughly cleaned, as if it had been detailed. She said Moore’s car was usually found in an unkempt condition. In addition, Cosandra stated that Moore, a convicted felon, kept a handgun wedged between the driver’s seat of his car and the console of his car. Cosandra stated she intentionally looked for the handgun that day, and found it missing from the car.  She stated that Moore said he gave the handgun to his brother

·      On this same day, Cosandra stated Moore arrived at her home during the evening hours. She said many of her family members were also at the home and were gathered because of Timeka’s disappearance. Cosandra stated a family member went to examine the caller ID on Cosandra’s phone and found where all the calls made by Moore the day before had been erased from the phone. She stated Moore had been seen with the phones in his hands that day while he was at Cosandra’s home

·      Just after Timeka went missing, Cosandra ended her relationship with Moore. According to Cosandra, from the time the relationship ended in 2001 and until 2023, Moore had never once reached out to her or visited to ask about Timeka or what had been learned about her disappearance

In 2009, the La Grange Police Department was disbanded and the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office inherited the missing person’s case. The case has been reviewed over the years. In 2023, the LCSO announced it was taking another look into this case.

On Oct. 4, 2023, Moore died in Pitt County of an illness. A few weeks before Moore’s death, he was interviewed again by the LCSO but denied any involvement in Timeka’s disappearance.

Several areas have been searched over the past year and more searches are planned for the spring of 2024. The primary focus is finding Timeka. When Timeka went missing in 2001, she was 16; she would have turned 40 in September of this year.

“While we firmly believe Eric Earl Mercer Moore is the person responsible for Timeka’s disappearance, we continue to search for Timeka,” Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers said.

If anyone has any information concerning this case, they are asked to use the LCSO E-Tips online service to provide anonymous information or by contacting the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office at 252-559-6100.